Brush for cotton-gins.



No. 858,852. PATENTED JULY 2,1907

T. BRANTLEY.

' BRUSH FOR COTTON ems.

APPLIGATION FILED 0GT. 11, 1906. A

TIE nqnms PETERS co., vusmlmwn, a c

THOMAS BRANTLEY, OF ALBANY, GEORGIA.

BRUSH FOR COTTON-GINS.

No. 858,852. i

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2, 1907.

Application filed- October 11, 1906. Serial No. 338,403.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS BRANTLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing in Albany, in the county of Dougherty and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brushes for Cotton- Gins, of which the following is a specification.

In U. S. Letters Patent No. 732,999, granted to me July 7, 1903, I have shown a rotary brush for cotton gins of an improved construction.

According to my present invention I have changed the construction of rotary brushes of this class and have made them much stronger and more durable. I now construct the brush frame of a series of disks which I secure to a central driving shaft and I connect the disks by stay rods in such manner-as to put the frame under tension and prevent vibration. The brush bars are of novel form and the bristles are secured to the bars in an improved way. The brush bars are also connected with the brush frame in such manner as to prevent endwise movement thereof.

In the present application, I claim the general construction of the rotary brush.

In my application for patent filed simultaneously herewith, I have claimed the improved construction of the brush, that is, the improved way of attaching the tufts of bristles to the brush bars.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 shows a longitudinal central section of a rotary brush embodying my improvements, the shaft being shown in elevation. Fig. 2 shows a transverse section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 illustrates the manner of connecting a tuft of bristles with a ferrule. Fig. 4 is a similar View showing the tufts drawn into the ferrule. Fig. 5 shows a cross section of a brush bar. Fig. 6 shows an elevation of a portion of a brush bar with the bristles in place.

- Fig. 7 shows a transverse section of a brush bar with a tuft of bristles in place before the tuft has been secured permanently to the bar. Fig. 8 is a similar view showing the ferrule crushed and firmly united to the brush bar. Fig. 9 is a plan View of a portion of one of the brush bars before the bristles have been assembled therein.

I employ a series of circular disks, A, arranged on a central shaft, B,. Each disk is formed with a hub, a, carrying a set screw, a, which engages the shaft, B, and between each pair of disks is arranged a cylindrical casing or shield, O, the edges of which rest on flanges, c, on the disks as indicated in Fig. 1. In Fig. 1, I have shown 5 disks, A, on the shaft, B. The' two outer disks are each provided with only one annular flange, 0, while the three inner disks are provided with flanges, c, on each side. Each disk is formed with a series of bosses, b, which are perforated or 'formed with holes, as shown, to receive the ends of the stay rods, D. The bosses are turned truly on their faces so as to be perfectly smooth and to provide uniform thickness of metal on opposite sides of the body of thedisk. This is for the purpose of enabling the stay rods to be applied in such manner as to hold the disks with absolute uniformity and trueness in order to prevent vibration of the structure. Each stay rod is reduced on its opposite ends toform shoulders at d and the reduced ends are passed through the holes in the bosses, b, of the disks and the projecting ends are upset or riveted at 11. Care is taken that the distance between the shoulders at opposite ends of the rods are the same in all the rods, so that the rods shall hold the disks uniformly the same distance apart at all points. In this way I am enabled to build up a structure that will be rigid and free from all vibrations. Plates or wings, E, are provided at the ends of the brush to act as fans in the usual way. The shields or casing, C. may be made of tin or thin sheet metal and may be slipped on to the frame after the stay rods have been united with the disks. When so applied, however, they are in the form of split cylinders and the ends are over-lapped and soldered or otherwise suitably secured after they have assumed their positions between the disks on the flanges, c.

It will be understood that the stay rods rigidly hold the disks the proper distances apart and the riveting or upsetting produces a tension, giving rigidity to the entire structure. I find that it is better to employ stay rods to produce this rigid structure than to depend on the brush bars to do this, as the latter are somewhat too far from the shaft. The brush bars I are preferably formed of metal bars of I beam form and the disks are formed with recesses to receive the bodies of the bars and the flanges at the bases thereof. This is clearly illustrated in Fig. 2. Such bars may be inserted endwise through the recesses in the peripheries of the disks and may be forced across the brush frame and made to assume the position indicated in Fig. 1. When thus in place, the ends of the bars are upset or riveted as indicated att' to prevent endwise movement of the bars after they are in place. This arrangement also produces a certain tension between the end disks of the series and helps in giving rigidity to the structure. I do not, however, desire to be limited to the particular form of brush bar shown, as other forms may be employed.

It will be understood, of course, that the bristles are applied to the brush bars before the latter are connected with the disks. The manner of connecting the bristles to the bars is fully described in my application for patent filed simultaneously herewith above referred to and the novel features of this part of the invention are claimed in said application. I would say, however, that the preferred way of connecting the bristles with the brush bars is herein illustrated and will be briefly described.

Each tuft of bristles is preferably formed by taking a bunch of bristles, F, and passing a cord, G, around it in the manner indicated in Fig. 3. The cord is then passed through a ferrule, H, made of thin soft or malleable metal which is tapered or made conical at its end and formed with a hole, h, through which the cord passes. The cord is then pulled up through the hole so as to draw the tuft of bristles into the ferrule in th? manner indicated inFig. 4 and then the ends of the cord are cut off so that only short ends project from the conical end of the ferrule. I find that the bristles can be drawn tightly into the ferrule and heldthere without the use of cement. The brush bar is preferably of the form illustrated, viz., of I beam form. The essential feature of the improved brush bar is that the outer side or brush receiving portion is flanged on 0pposite sides of the body of the bar and holes are drilled through the flanged side so as to extend entirely through the flanges and into the body or Web of the bar. In this Way, as will be seen by inspection of Figs. 5 and 9, holes are formed in the flanges which have continuous circular Walls, While the holes formed in the body are open on opposite sides. In this way,

when the ferrules with the tufts are inserted in the manner indicated in Fig. 7, they will fit in the holes, 7c, and Will be held by the Walls of the holes against side- Wise movement, but the inner portions of the ferrules below the flanges, are exposed. The drill naturally forms a conical recess or depression, 7c and this receives the conical end of the ferrule carrying the projecting ends of the cord. The dimensions are such that the ferrules With the bristles may be easily slipped into the holes, as illustrated in Fig. 7, but when the ferrules are compressed, they are expanded at certain portions in such manner as to tightly flt the holes in the flanges of the bars, While the holes, h, which are normally round, are flattened and the walls of the holes are made to grip the ends of the cords. When the ferrules are compressed, they will appear as indicated in Fig. 8, Where, as Will be seen the ferrule fills out the hole in the flanged portion of the bar and the inner end of the ferrule is flattened down on opposite sides to conform to the shape of the body portion of the bar. This method of connecting the ferrules and bristles with the bar I find to be a very serviceable one. The connections can be easily effected and they are so secure as to Withstand all centrifugal or other forces tending -i to separate the bristles from the bars. A perfectly smooth connection is produced so that there are no rough edges tending to catch lint.

While I prefer to grip the ends of the cord as above specified, I may depend on compression alone to hold the bristles in the ferrules and the ferrules in the bars.

I claim as my invention:

A rotary br sh comprising a centrally arranged shaft. a series of dis rigidly attached thereto, cylindrical cas ings or shields arranged between the disks and supported thereby, rods rigidly attached to and rig-idly connecting the disks to stiffen the structure and produce a tension thereon when the brush is-in motion to prevent vibration ot the structure or a bowing of the shaft, and a series of brush bars detachably connected with the disks outside the rods.

111 testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

THOMAS BRANTLEY.

Witnesses ll. 15. Luonann, N. It. Dunes.

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